This Is Cartoon Network
by NonSequiturs-R-Us
Summary: Five friends who love watching classic and contemporary Cartoon Network programming find themselves on the adventure of a lifetime when they are suddenly transported to a universe where cartoons really exist. Or it could just be the inside of the television. Many cameo appearances by past and present CN characters will be occurring! No OC/CN character pairings as of yet, if at all.
1. And so it begins

**A.N.** - Well, I'm back everyone. =) I've been hard at work on a number of different projects, including this one, and I wanted to get this one out to the public in honor of Cartoon Network's 20th Anniversary going on today. There are plenty of classic and contemporary shows airing on the network all day today to help celebrate and the voting is open right now on for favorite shows, characters, and much more! If you vote in every category, you get the chance to download a sweet desktop wallpaper featuring every CN character from these past 20 years! Enjoy my little offering to you, the readers, on this very special occasion. =)

* * *

Throughout the years, Cartoon Network has made some really good decisions, as well as some really bad ones, with its blocks and programming. Who could forget the Powerhouse Era which has recently been brought back to help celebrate the network's 20th anniversary in the form of animated bumpers? Or the hugely-popular Toonami block of Japanese anime programming that lasted from 1997-2008, and has also officially returned to the network as of May 26th, 2012? Or Cartoon Cartoon Fridays, the immensely popular Friday night block that lasted from 1998-2003 before the Cartoon Network's Fridays block took over until 2007, also adored by fans? Many of those same fans rejoiced when Cartoon Network's CN Real block was finally removed in 2011 with all of its live-action programming? Or when the disastrously unpopular _Out of Jimmy's Head _left the network for good along with other similarly disliked shows that caused long-time fans to quit watching their beloved network? With the noticeable turnaround of the network in 2008, Cartoon Network has been slowly working its way back to the top where it once stood proudly during its heyday in the 90s and early 2000s with increasingly-popular original programming and blocks as it steadily nears its 20th anniversary on October 1st, 2012. However, amidst all the recent success that the network has been receiving, there has been strong outcry from fans as to why it abandoned the CN City look, the CGI-themed metropolis where all Cartoon Network characters live, work, and interact with each other. The look lasted in North America from June 2004 when the network adopted its second logo to late 2006, but the look is still used in other countries even to this day. It was a very unique concept amongst fans that harkens back to when Cartoon Network had created bumpers involving various characters interacting with each other in and around the CN Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Those bumpers eventually gave birth to the Cartoon Network's Fridays opening where almost every character ever to appear on the network at least once is featured. The one minute sequence has many continuity nods to the original bumpers that inspired it and it is generally assumed that CN City was born from and built around the Fridays concept, as the CGI-themed bumpers were shown on the network during the years Fridays still aired. Many fans want CN City to return to the network with fresh bumpers featuring characters from previous years as well as current characters, and many would also give their right arm to have the bumpers turned into an actual show. It would be a particularly awesome and epic way for the network to celebrate their 20th anniversary, as they have already revived previously abandoned ideas from their history, but CN City's ultimate fate remains uncertain. Until now, that is…

* * *

"Man, this stinks! I really want to see more of _Adventure Time_, but the new episode is not going to be airing until 7:30 tonight!"

"That's roughly three hours from now. I'm sure you'll manage to stave off your immensely obvious boredom until then. Besides, there is a rerun of episodes at 7:00pm. So, it will be even less time until you get your fix. I swear, that show is like a drug for you: when you don't get the chance to watch it, you go into some serious withdrawal. Geez, get a grip on yourself."

"Grrrrr…"

"Geez, listening to you two bicker is like watching two people with laryngitis try to have a conversation with each other. They talk and talk and talk, but they never say a damn thing. Let it rest, alright? You two are starting to give me a headache."

"Oh, I'll give you a headache, alright! By slamming my fist into that eight pound hunk of flesh you call a head!"

"Pfft, I'd like to see you try. The puny stumps on the ends of your arms you call fists are merely puffballs compared to what I've got going for me. My fists can pack a serious punch while yours are just a reflection of how lousy you truly are in a real fight!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP RIGHT NOW!"

The sudden loud voice belonged to fourteen-year-old Beryl Seltur who had spoken earlier in a much calmer tone, but her patience had run thin with her two friends. She usually didn't have to play the mediator whenever they got into some heated arguments, but today and right now had been an exception to the norm. Thirteen-year-old Cerrlumia Lisrev and twelve-year-old Aurea Leywol shrank back from their friend's harsh glare. They knew that when Beryl got angry she meant business. Her glare briefly shifted to Aurea and the girl widened her eyes in fright.

"_I'm_ the one bickering with Cerrlumia, huh, Aurea? Maybe you should stop and think for a moment before doing exactly what you're accusing me of doing when I'm only trying to convey some witty banter with her."

Aurea's gaze shifted to the floor in shame and Cerrlumia focused her gaze on a particularly interesting patch of blank wall across the room. Both felt really stupid for the way they had acted. Beryl noticed the depressed looks on their faces and sighed, rubbing her forehead with one head.

"Geez, listen to me… Talking to you two like I'm your big sister or something when I'm just a friend… We're all guests today in Chris's house and here we are acting like a bunch of five-year-olds having temper tantrums when we should be enjoying the animation presented to us today on Cartoon Network. Heh, what a mess we are…"

Beryl chuckled and shook her head, the hint of a smile playing across her lips. Cerrlumia and Aurea both brightened at their friend's change in mood and let out suppressed sighs of relief. They were off the hook…for now.

"So, anyway, yeah. We should be enjoying our day rather than arguing with each other."

"Amen to that," replied Cerrlumia. "Geez, Beryl. Why the hell were you trying to jump down our throats? I haven't seen you so worked up since _Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated_ ended its first season with that major cliffhanger. All I wanted was to see more _Adventure Time_… In retrospect, even bringing up the subject in a sort of tirade was completely stupid… We have the easy option of watching full episodes off of the website's video section."

"Or even On Demand," added Aurea. "And YouTube."

"So, it's settled?" asked Beryl. "We were all acting like complete idiots and got all worked up over nothing?"

"Oh, I wouldn't really say _that_."

The three girls turned towards the sound of the new voice and saw that it belonged to fifteen-year-old James Borenyger, another friend and younger brother to his older sister, Christine, more commonly known as Chris. He and his identical twin brother Zachary, whom most people referred to as just Zach, was standing in the doorway leading into the TV/game room where the girls were seated on one of the large sofas facing the giant flatscreen mounted on the opposite wall.

"What would you say then?" shot back Cerrlumia. "That we three are the greatest group of people ever to grace this building you and your family call a house?"

Beryl immediately facepalmed and shook her head. For all her audacity, Cerrlumia just never knew when she had crossed some sort of line. It was practically sewn into her personality that she had to be the brash, outspoken, loudmouth of the group. Almost like a younger version of Aerin. Almost. Speaking of which, Beryl was grateful that the older tomboyish girl was not around today. She could be a real pain sometimes and the fourteen-year-old wasn't in the mood to put up with her shenanigans. After all the time she had known Chris's friends and family since being introduced to them a few months ago, she couldn't for the life of her figure out why Aerin was a part of the group to begin with. She pretty much hated everyone, was easily annoyed by those around her, was impulsive, and was prone to aggressive behavior. Chris always said that Aerin balanced out the group with her personality traits contrasting against those of her other friends. Beryl had to agree with that. Shifting her attention back to James and Cerrlumia, she caught the tail-end to whatever heated conversation they had been having. Something about insinuating that the other person had said some unkind things about the other's mother. Childish stuff.

"Yeah, well… You're a big, stupid-head!"

It seemed that James had finally run out of good insults and was resorting to something a five-year-old would say. It was kinda sad to see a fifteen-year-old get reduced to this.

"Oh, would you two give it a rest?" Zach asked calmly, although clearly tired of the whole ordeal. "This stupid argument is obviously going nowhere and you two actively seek out a fight with each other knowing full well it's going to eventually dissolve into petty quarrelling. It's ridiculous."

Beryl turned her lips up in a grin as she watched Cerrlumia and James go silent as they shrank back a little from Zach's penetrating gaze. Leave it up to him to break up these stupid disagreements and keep his brother in line while easily keeping a cool head. This was the reason why Chris pretty much left him in charge when she wasn't around. Calm, sensible, easygoing, and levelheaded behavior as opposed to James' hyperactive, impulsive, and sometimes aggressive behavior. Zach's personality was something that Beryl really admired. Cerrlumia and James looked at each other after a few seconds and reluctantly shook hands, signaling that a truce had been reached, at least for now. There was no telling when they would be at each other's throats again, but Beryl, Aurea, and Zach hoped it wouldn't be anytime soon.

"So, anyway, I'm going to occupy my time until the next airing of _Adventure Time_ by watching some CN video of some episodes on my smartphone," announced Cerrlumia.

She then took out said smartphone from her pants pocket and tapped its screen to navigate to the Internet.

"Do you mind if I watch with you?" asked Aurea. "I have some catching up to do."

"Nope, not at all."

Aurea eagerly scooted close to her best friend as Cerrlumia brought up the _Adventure Time_ page in the video section of Cartoon Network's website and loaded a random episode. Beryl opted to catch up on some light reading while the younger girls enjoyed themselves and Zach and James made their way outside the house towards their nearby warehouse. Both were eager to resume work on their so-called 'Dimensional Paradox Test Chamber' and maintain their status as the science geeks of the property. Chris didn't mind all the experiments that they conducted in the large building, just as long as none of them didn't cause any damage to anything she held dear, namely the house, her car, and of course, themselves. Possessing the knowledge and know-how of being able to build such mind-blowing devices _from scratch_ was a feat in and of itself, and anything and everything was fair game to use if they got their hands on it. Even test subjects. Quite a few of the family's pet cats living on and around the property had been subjected to numerous experiments in the past, but none of them were ever harmful. More along the lines of FOR SCIENCE! or some other ridiculous reason they could come up with. Both immensely enjoyed the cloning experiments (using a similar, but slightly modified device than the DPTC), but were forced to stop by Chris when the amount of cats reached the hundreds and large quantities of food started disappearing. Nevertheless, Zach and James were undaunted in their quest to prove themselves as great, if not highly eccentric, mischievous scientists by performing very unique experiments with their hand-built devices. God help us all…

"Hopefully, we can get at least a few minutes of work in before the new episodes come on," said Zach. "I may not be as much of a cartoon fiend as the rest of you, but I still enjoy watching the zany antics of my favorite animated characters."

"'May not be as much of a cartoon fiend' my ass," retorted James. "We both have extended knowledge of practically every show that's ever aired on Cartoon Network, we've researched the network's history like nobody's business since the network's birth on October 1st, 1992 to the present day just for the hell of it, we've read and re-read Bleedman's webcomics numerous times, and we know about the horrors of fanart DeviantART and the Internet can provide. The only thing left we haven't done is actually interact with a cartoon character because it's damn impossible."

Zach smirked at his brother and gave him a light shove.

"Granted, the things you happened to list off were things that _I_ had to goad you into doing because I knew you would get a kick out of doing so. Am I right in saying that you're glad I pushed you into doing some research on the subject and actually enjoyed it afterwards?"

"Well…yeah. I am glad you did that."

"Good. Because you never know when cartoon trivia might come up on _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?_ or _Jeopardy!_ or something and you'll finally be able to get more questions right than me."

"Yeah, that would be awesome."

James grinned and Zach rolled his eyes with a smirk. They finally reached the main entrance to the warehouse and stepped up to the door, a panel next to it immediately sliding open to reveal a bright red electric eye.

"**Password please**," a smooth, calm, but clearly electronic female voice asked from a speaker next to the eye.

"Uhhh… Crap, what is it this week?" asked James. "I keep forgetting. Is it 'hamhock'?"

"No, that was last week's password," replied Zach.

"How about 'DEMACIAAAAA!'"

"…No, that was from two weeks ago."

"Damn… Uh, 'butter brickle'?"

"Hmm, could be."

"Is 'butter brickle' the password?" James asked the computer voice.

"**It is not, James**."

"Is it 'hullabaloo and howdy-doo'?"

Zach facepalmed.

"**No. And that was your second wrong response. Let me remind you that one more wrong answer results in a highly-painful electric shock**."

"Yes, I know… Damn."

"**It was what you two programmed into me**," the voice stated matter-of-factly. "**To prevent unlawful entry into your cherished warehouse that holds all of your hand-made and sometimes machine-built technological marvels. The governments and scientists of the world would make you two very rich if you would let them in on a single sample of your research and experimentation**."

"Geez, Iris, why not let the whole world know about what we've got stored away in here?! I'm sure that tons of people would just _love_ to get their grubby hands on the stuff we have. Why don't we just put it all on layaway for them?!"

"**I would greatly appreciate it if you didn't talk to me in that tone of voice, young man**," Iris stated threateningly. "**You may get away with talking like that to your friends, but not to me**."

To prove her point, blue and white arcs of electricity started dancing around the steel entrance and James widened his eyes in fear as he took a step back. Zach just looked on and shook his head in annoyance.

"You just never learn, do you, James? …So, anyway, Iris. The password just came to me while James was acting like an idiot yet again. Is the password 'inihgrobmal'?"

"**Yes, it is. Password accepted. You may now enter**."

James was incredulous as he stared at Zach walking through the now-open door.

"How the hell did you come up with that one?! You just made that up on the spot, didn't you?"

Zach turned to grin at his brother.

"Well, yes and no. It was actually a password that she accepted last month and I just thought it would work again this time on a whim."

"…Huh."

James then made a move to follow Zach into the warehouse, but the sliding steel door suddenly slammed shut in his face.

"Hey! What the…? Open the door, Iris!"

"**I'm sorry, James, I'm afraid I can't do that**."

"What? …Oh, very funny. Just open the door."

"**Hehehe. You just have no sense of humor**."

"I do too! Now I need to get in there to do my research! Please open the door, Iris."

"**Oh, fine. …Spoilsport. Password please**."

"What?! You've got to be kidding me!"

"**Zach said his password. Now you have to say yours**."

"Oh, c'mon! That's not fair!"

"**Hehehe. You are just so easy to tease**."

Iris finally opened the door and James crossed the threshold, holding up his middle finger to the red electric eye and muttering curses under his breath. When he reached the balcony area with the nearby elevator, he entered the awaiting car and descended to the large, spacious, main underground level. Zach was waiting for him by the Dimensional Paradox Test Chamber, tinkering with some controls.

"Geez, what the hell took you so long?"

"That damned computer we installed to manage and run this warehouse enjoys being an asshole to me…"

Zach laughed and shook his head.

"Yeah, she really does love messing with you. Most of the time you deserve it."

"Yeah, uh, sure…"

"Anyway, we should get to work on this thing and finally run some tests with it. Could you hand me that metric socket wrench over there?"

James handed Zach the appropriate tool and grabbed a Phillips-head screwdriver before moving around to the opposite side of the device to resume working.

"So what do we hope to find with this thing? Like, alternate universes and stuff?"

"That's the plan, at least," replied Zach. "I don't know for sure what's going to happen once we've finished building this damned thing."

"Heh, I feel kinda like Dexter working on one of his many experiments. Too bad our laboratory hasn't been expanded beyond the confines of the warehouse."

"Check that. I think I'm more like Dexter and you're more like DeeDee, always destroying stuff."

"Oh, c'mon, I don't always destroy stuff."

"What about two months ago when you nearly blew up the meteorite we found in our backyard four years ago?"

He quickly nodded in the direction of the 1,200 pound hunk of rock in its glass case at the far wall of the warehouse. James facepalmed and glared back at him.

"You're really going to hold me accountable for that mishap? It wasn't my fault!"

"Pfft. Don't tell me you were framed for it?"

"Nooooo. However, we both didn't know that mixing those three chemicals together would have caused an explosion! Even you couldn't have predicted that with your fastidious way of examining extraterrestrial space debris."

"…Okay, point taken."

"HAH!"

James gave his brother a satisfied smirk before returning to his work. Zach just rolled his eyes at him. Fifteen minutes later, the device was complete. Both teens stepped back to admire their handiwork.

"So, we know everything's been put in its proper place, but is it operational?" asked James.

"Hmmm, let's see…"

Zach turned some knobs and pressed some buttons on the four-foot-tall, bell-shaped device before pulling a giant lever. James stood off to the side, looking hopeful and waiting for something extraordinary to happen, but nothing did. The metallic machine just sat there.

"Ooookay… Well, that didn't work. Maybe a different combination of dial-turning and button pressing this time…"

Zach tried what he wanted to do, but still nothing happened. James' shoulders slumped as he and Zach circled the device, checking every possible thing that might be wrong with it. It was definitely getting power from the wall as the indicators were showing, there were no crossed wires or broken circuits, and all the labels were in the correct places. So what was wrong?

"I can't find anything wrong with this thing, other than that it won't turn on," said James.

"Same here…" muttered Zach. "Well, as they say, third time's the charm. Shall we give it a try?"

James shrugged. "Eh, might as well."

"Well, here goes nothing."

Zach made sure all the settings were correct before turning the knobs, pressing the buttons, and pulling the lever. The twins held their breath as they waited for the lights to go on, or for the sound of an internal hum, or even arcs of electricity, anything to let them know something was working. Nothing. Out of utter frustration, James quickly walked over to a nearby wall and rhythmically banged his head against it. Zach sighed and massaged his forehead.

"Well, I'm officially out of ideas… I say we take a break for a while. Play some _Perfect Dark_ on the N64 or some _SSBB_ on the Wii. Something to take our minds off of this. Then we can come back later and try something new."

"I'm game for that. Heh, so to speak."

Zach rolled his eyes and pressed his hand against part of the wall where James was standing. A panel depressed into the wall with a hiss of steam before sliding out of sight. A bright red button was visible and Zach pushed it to open up a much larger panel next to it. Strong gusts of air coming from a large pneumatic tube whipped his hair around as he made a move to enter the hole.

"Time to ride the pneumatic tube back to the house, I suppose," muttered James.

He gave the device a half-glare and kicked it sharply with his foot causing it to make a loud, metallic clang. Widening his eyes in fright, he quickly scrambled to stop the noise and shot a quick glance at Zach to make sure he didn't hear anything. Too late. Zach turned to glare at his brother.

"Will you quit messing around with that thing and hurry up? This panel's not gonna stay open forever, you know."

"Yeah, yeah. Just hold on."

James gave the device a final glare and strode towards Zach.

"Do you think Magic could give us a hand with that stupid thing?"

"…I'm not exactly sure if he would want to be bothered for such a task. I'd think he would rather have us figure it out on our own. Besides, he has no idea how the thing is put together or works. Only we do. Not to mention he's a cat."

"Yeah, 'works'. HAH."

"You know what I mean…"

A loud beeping noise could be heard nearby, indicating that the panel would soon slide closed. Without wasting any time, the twins stepped forward and felt themselves get sucked into the tube by the airflow. After the panel slid shut, the long-winding tube eventually narrowed and they felt themselves automatically oriented feet-first so that impact back at the house would be minimized. A small room located at the back of the house was set up with mattresses, bean bag chairs, and other soft cushions to help absorb the high-speed collisions associated with exiting the tube. A few seconds later, a panel in the wall slid open and Zach and James flew across the room before each smacking into a few bean bag chairs. Beryl looked up from her book at the sound of the loud thumps from across the house and knew the boys were back.

"Zach and James are back, in case you two were interested."

"Eh, not really," replied Cerrlumia as she and Aurea continued to stare at the smartphone while another Cartoon Network video loaded. They had exhausted the supply of newly-uploaded _Adventure Time_ videos and had since switched to _Regular Show_.

"Heh, thought as much."

Beryl had just buried her nose in her book again when the twins walked into the room.

"Any luck?" she asked without looking up.

"Nope," replied Zach as he leaned against the doorframe. James instantly plopped himself onto the floor and stared at the wall across the room.

"Ah, I'm sure you two will figure it out eventually. It must take a lot of power to search for whatever it is you're trying to find. Wormholes, or whatever."

"Heh, while a wormhole would be awesome to find, that's not our main goal."

"Ah, yes, that whole thing about parallel or alternate universes. Topics that we've learned about in our physics classes at school. Eleven dimensions, string theory, M-theory, Einstein's Unified Theory of Everything…"

"That he unfortunately didn't create in time," muttered James. "And yes, even I know about that stuff, as hard as it is for some of you to accept that."

He smirked and the rest of the group just stared at him.

"Uh, we weren't even insinuating that you…" started Zach, but James cut him off with a smirk.

"No matter. We'll find a way to prove the existence of parallel universes without all that science-y mumbo-jumbo that some of the world's best scientists can't even figure out. We will be world-famous and insanely rich once we reveal what we found to everyone! Hahaha!"

Everyone just continued to stare at him with completely blank looks. James held his triumphant pose for a few seconds longer until a deadpan expression crossed his face.

"Geez, get a grip, guys. So in going for the joke, I decided to be dramatic and somewhat maniacal, but apparently even I can't pull that off convincingly."

He shrugged and everyone exchanged glances.

"Whatever. Zach and I were on our way to play some video games until our next attempt to get the damned device up and running. Let's hope it'll work then. Probably should have given it another kick for good measure…"

"No, that would have been a bad idea and I would have smacked you upside the head for doing so," muttered Zach. "You really need to cut back on your impulsiveness."

"My level of impulsiveness is just fine, thank you very much!"

"Oh, yeah, sure. And Aerin is really a girly-girl who loves wearing frilly dresses and putting on makeup!"

"GAH! Horrible images! You ass!"

As Zach and James continued to argue with each other, the girls could only look on with a mix of wonder and annoyance. Cerrlumia and Aurea couldn't help but notice how much the twins were acting like Mordecai and Rigby from _Regular Show_. It was obvious who was displaying character traits of whom. Before the argument could come to blows and because Beryl was having a hard time focusing on her book, she abruptly stood up from the sofa and addressed the twins.

"Shut up! Both of you! Geez, I can't hear myself think or read with your constant bickering! It's enough to drive someone crazy!"

"Hey, Aurea, doesn't Beryl remind you of Eddy from _Ed, Edd n Eddy_ sometimes?" snickered Cerrlumia. "Such a loudmouth."

Beryl whirled on the spot and glared at the silver-haired girl.

"Oh, am I? Well, if I'm Eddy, then Aurea's Double D and you're Ed, on account of all the food you shove down your gullet on a regular basis!"

"What?! Oh, c'mon, I don't eat that much! …Hey, wait a minute, are you calling me fat?!"

Beryl smirked and crossed her arms.

"I didn't say anything. Looks to me like you just insinuated it."

Cerrlumia shot her a death glare and was about to lunge at her when Aurea spoke up.

"You know what? You ALL sound and act like Eddy! Well, except maybe Zach. He acts more like Double D. However, the rest of you…" she pointed at James, Beryl, and Cerrlumia in turn. "…sound and act like that ill-tempered, money-hungry loudmouth with the Napoleon Complex. It's utterly ridiculous."

Aurea finished with a glare at everyone, but couldn't keep a straight face for long. She started giggling softly before bursting into uproarious laughter. The rest soon followed suit and the laughter continued for a few more minutes until everyone had tears in their eyes.

"Oh…my…gawd…" laughed Beryl as she wiped the tears away. "What the hell is wrong with us? We're all acting like five-year-olds and comparing ourselves to cartoon characters."

"Eh, it could be much worse," pointed out Cerrlumia. "We could all be acting like one-year-olds and comparing ourselves to _Jersey Shore_ characters."

"Oh, GAWD, please, no! Let's make sure our altercations never, ever reach that level of stupidity."

"Amen to that."

After the laughing had died down, everyone felt much better and no one saw a reason to argue anymore, at least for now. It was at least another hour until the latest episode of _Adventure Time _and there was plenty of seating for everyone on the numerous sofas and chairs in the room. Zach and James wondered what was taking their sister so long to get home, but then they remembered that Chris and her friends were having a girls-night-out and would be gone for several more hours. The twins didn't mind; with the older girls gone, the place would be a little less crowded and quieter, save for the cats who came and went as they pleased.

"Ah, Cartoon Network, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways…" said Cerrlumia with a smile as she turned on the television to the correct channel.

"You love it a whole lot better ever since the network has been slowly returning to its former glory," pointed out Beryl. "2006-2008 were their slump-years, if you ask me."

"Well, they had a few good shows that came out during that time period. _Chowder _and _The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack_, for example."

"True, true."

"Alright, shush, you two; the show's started," whispered Aurea.

Everyone then turned their attention to the large flatscreen television mounted on the wall and after a rather enjoyable session of _Adventure Time _and _Regular Show _episodes presented as a mini-marathon, the five friends relaxed on the couches discussing their favorite parts of both shows. It was mostly quiet in the house, save for the occasional shuffling and eating noises made by the cats as they went about their various routines. Chris was still out with Brooke, Celeste, Aerin, Kelsey, and Eca and they weren't expected to be home for a few hours, so the teens had the place to themselves. The two older guys, tFab and Zenith, were out as well doing something or other. The teens didn't mind; Chris pretty much allowed anything to go on in her house when she wasn't around, as long as nothing got broken or destroyed or holes put in the walls or anything. Cerrlumia yawned and stretched her arms above her head.

"Ah, nothing like a nice round of awesome Cartoon Network shows to make you feel good."

"Yep, can't complain on that regard," said Aurea. "Although, we could do without your commentary during the shows."

"Hey, I'm just voicing my opinions. There's no law against that."

"No, but maybe there should be a law so that you can keep your big mouth shut when others are trying to watch!"

Cerrlumia grinned at her friend and suddenly put her in a headlock, quickly rubbing the scalp with her knuckles.

"Awww, you're just so cute when you complain! You're just upset that I can commentate on cartoons better than you could ever hope to."

"AHHH! AHHH! LET ME GO!"

"Not until you say that I'm the best at commentating on cartoons!"

"NEVER!"

"Alright, fine then. Let's see how long you can last getting noogied!"

After a few more seconds of Aurea trying to free herself from Cerrlumia's grip while getting her scalp rubbed, Beryl had to intervene.

"Alright, break it up you two. I think you both made your point, and quite frankly, I'm just sick of you two arguing."

Cerrlumia didn't seem to hear Beryl and kept going at it until she was smacked upside the head. Immediately releasing her hold on Aurea, she brought a hand up to massage the skin.

"Hey! That hurt, you know!"

"AS I WAS SAYING…" replied Beryl. "I told you two to break it up, but you didn't listen. So I administered something that I knew would get through to you. Enough fighting and arguing. NOW."

Cerrlumia shrank back a little from Beryl's gaze and turned to face the television, grumbling. Aurea took the opportunity to smack Cerrlumia upside the head where Beryl hadn't touched it. The silver-haired girl whirled to face the grinning blonde before looking aghast at Beryl.

"Did you see that?! She freaking smacked me!"

"Hmmph, serves you right, you know. And what do you want me to do about it?"

Cerrlumia just stared at her while Zach and James watched on from their respective couch.

"Ah, nothing like dinner and a show, minus the dinner, eh, Zachy?" asked James with a smirk.

"So it's just a show then. Okaaay…" Zach rolled his eyes. "And don't call me that."

James just snickered and leaned back on the couch, idly listening to the girls shout at each other. Despite still getting into frequent arguments with his brother, James at least knew when to back off before things got way out of hand. It was stupid and pointless to prolong an argument just for the sake of arguing. Not exactly analogous to beating a dead horse, but close enough.

"Heh, hey, Zach; ever notice how our fights are usually along the lines of how Mordecai and Rigby conduct themselves? Coincidence, or are we really picking up on their cues?"

"I think it's more coincidence that anything else. _Regular Show_ has only been around for two years and we've been around for fifteen. Besides, our personalities can be compared to that of characters from many forms of fiction. It's nothing new or radically different; just something that can be chalked up to life. And Magic. However, there's no reason to get him entangled in any of this, even though he's responsible for practically everything that goes on around here."

"Heh. Even I can't argue with that logic. Still despite that he's a cat."

Zach smirked and fist-bumped his brother.

"Agreed."

By this point, the arguing and general disagreements between the girls had settled down considerably. Being friends with each other easily brought out the hostilities, but also the mediations associated with them. You had to take the bad with the good sometimes, and vice versa. If you didn't, then who would? Everyone looked to be relaxing comfortably contemplating their next move and it still wasn't time yet for the new episodes. Cerrlumia was becoming antsy and grit her teeth in anticipation. Beryl was just about to go get something to drink from the kitchen when the silver-haired girl spoke up while idly staring at the current advertisement for the new _Adventure Time_ episode airing next.

"Man, it's about freaking time… There's got to be an easier way to see these episodes than on TV, and I don't just mean watching them online with no commercials. I'm talking about actually being the first ones to see the show before anyone else."

"Oh, here we go…"started Aurea.

"I'm being serious here!" replied Cerrlumia, as the commercials ended. "Why can't we be the only ones to get the full experience? Oooh, they should have a contest or something! Grand prize winners get to watch an episode of a Cartoon Network show being made and they also get to meet the voice actors! Think about how cool that would be!"

"Orrrrr, I'll just do you one better and have the grand prize winners actually getting to meet the cartoon stars themselves! It'll be like _Space Jam_ or _Who Framed Roger Rabbit_," said James with a sly grin. "Only problem with that set-up is that those cartoons were just special effects for the movies and that cartoons don't exist for us to actually meet them in person and shake their hand. But hey, I can dream, can't I?"

Cerrlumia half-glared at him while the opening credits began.

"Some 'do-you-one-better' scenario you've got there. At least my idea is plausible."

"And what makes you so sure that mine isn't?"

"What?! You just denied it yourself a few seconds ago!"

"Bah, I was just humoring myself."

James then grinned at her before snickering.

"Oh, who am I kidding? That would never happen. The closest thing we could ever hope to have with people interacting with real cartoons would be realistic holograms or something like what they use for those 'live' Hatsune Miku concerts in Japan."

"Yeah. Heh, that would be pretty cool. It's a shame that damned machine of yours couldn't help us out. What, with actually doing something useful, like letting us meet cartoon characters. Hopefully, you'll have better luck next time in getting that brain of yours working properly enough for a successful experiment, as if that hunk of pink flesh _could_ do anything useful!"

Cerrlumia laughed before blowing a raspberry at him. James glared at her and was about to reply with a snappy retort when a bright white flash suddenly filled the room, immediately blinding everyone. The girls screamed in fright and the guys shielded their eyes, wondering if the television had exploded or something. Only there was no noise. Until…

_BANG!_

The sound came from the television, but no one was brave enough to look past the searing bright light to see if it really had exploded now. A new noise abruptly replaced the loud bang; a pulsating static field that rose and fell in pitch before another bright light erupted out of nowhere. The brightness and pain caused everyone to cry out again before losing consciousness, the light instantly replaced with pitch black nothing.

* * *

**A.N.** - I really enjoyed writing this story, not just because I'm a huge Cartoon Network fan, but also because I get to place my OCs into these wild scenarios. More chapters are soon to follow and please read and review if you'd like!


	2. DESTROY US ALL! DESTROY US ALL!

**A.N.** - I'm back with Chapter 2! Now you'll get to find out what happened to our heroes...

* * *

Zach didn't know how much time had gone by since he passed out. His limbs felt like they weighed a ton each and his head throbbed painfully. Carefully reaching up to massage his forehead, he tried forcing his eyes open to see what happened to the television. He expected glass and plastic to be all over the place, but he could feel nothing of the sort against his skin; just a cold, hard sensation, as if he was laying on concrete or a floor of some kind. His brain still thought he was going to be blinded again if he fully opened his eyes, but with a little coaxing, he managed to open them to tiny slits. Through his blurred vision, he could make out two figures, both short in appearance, as if they were young kids, standing over another figure crumpled on the ground next to him. One of the 'kids' was poking the figure with a long pointy object that Zach figured was a stick or something and muttering something incoherently. The 'kid' standing next to the first one didn't say or do much until the stick was practically shoved up a nostril belonging to the figure on the hard ground, causing the kid to smack the other one upside the head.

"Billy, cut that out. We should be going to meet up with Grim now. Leave the kid alone and get rid of that stick or I'll snap it in half and shove the pieces up a place where the sun doesn't shine."

"Awww, but Mandy, I was having fun! You know how much I love playing with sticks and poking random people with them!"

"I'd rather not be reminded of such things. Now, come on. You're going to make us late and I hate being late."

"Teehee! You're so funny, Mandy!"

Zach couldn't believe his ears. He distinctly heard their voices, those extremely recognizable voices, and he didn't think it was possible. _Adventure Time_ had just come on and now it was _Billy and Mandy_? What was going on here? Did the television get majorly screwed up? Or did the conversation between James and Cerrlumia somehow break reality? They couldn't possibly be where he thought they were…could they? He could hear 'Billy' and 'Mandy' walking away and Zach knew he had to get their attention somehow.

"Hey! W-wait!"

The kids turned around at the sound and saw Zach sitting up next to the other figure.

"Hey, look, Mandy! The other kid woke up! I guess all that poking I did with that stick actually did something to him before I started poking that other guy!"

"Can it, Billy." 'Mandy' then glared at Zach and crossed her arms. "Yeah? What is it?"

Zach slowly rubbed his eyes, trying desperately to relieve his blurred vision. Blinking rapidly a few times, he finally focused on the two figures standing in front of him and gasped. The two figures he saw before really were kids and those voices…the rapid-fire, energetic male and the cold, monotone female…he recognized instantly. But how?! How could this possibly be happening? Zach's breathing increased as he looked each of them over. The male kid was wearing a blue and white-striped T-shirt with dark blue pants, red and white sneakers, and a red baseball cap. His nose was freaking huge – practically the size of a large grapefruit or a small watermelon – and bright pink. Not electric or hot pink or anything, but still unusual. And the girl… She was wearing a bright pink dress with a flower design on the front, what Zach guessed to be Mary Jane's for shoes, and a black hair band keeping her devil horn-like blonde hair in place. Contrasting the boy's huge grin, the girl glared at Zach with a serious frown. There was absolutely no mistaking it. This was Billy and Mandy. Zach just stared at them open-mouthed until Mandy broke the silence, uncrossing her arms and turning away.

"Yeah, whatever. C'mon, Billy; Forget the dweeb and his friend. We're on a tight schedule."

Billy just giggled and waved at Zach before following Mandy.

"Bye, Whoever-You-Are. Hope you have a nice life! Teehee!"

Zach watched them take a few steps before shouting out at them.

"You're Billy and Mandy!"

This caused the two of them to turn back around and Mandy raised a curious eyebrow at him.

"Yeah? Who's asking?"

Zach just blinked at them. How the heck was he supposed to do this? Just flat-out tell them who he was? Well, it couldn't hurt. They didn't know him, (at least _shouldn't_ know him) so it should be safe enough.

"Uh, m-my name is Z-zach and this is my twin brother, James."

Zach quickly looked over at James who was apparently still unconscious, even after having his body poked by Billy's stick, and nudged him a couple of times.

"Dude, wake up! Something really weird is going on here!"

James acted like he was sleeping and mumbled something at Zach.

"Just… Just five more minutes, Chris… I can almost smell the waffles…"

"Dude, no! Just wake up! Wake! Up!"

Zach then took a hold of James' T-shirt and started shaking him vigorously.

"This is a fine time for you to be asleep, ya nitwit! You're not going to believe what's happening right now!"

Seeing Zach practically shaking the life out of his brother like a crazed lunatic proved to be enough for Mandy.

"Imbeciles… Billy, for the last time, LET'S GO!"

"Teehee! Coming, Mandy!"

Zach wasn't paying attention to the two of them leaving this time as he continued to try to wake his brother, and when he finally noticed their departure, they were nowhere to be seen. Zach immediately let go of James and collapsed on the hard ground, which turned out to be a sidewalk. Sighing, he sat with his head in his hands and stared hard at the cement beneath his feet. There was no way this was real. Any of it. He just had a conversation with Billy and Mandy. _Freaking_ _Billy and Mandy. _A couple of cartoon characters. And the conversation hadn't been one-sided, as if he had just imagined them replying back to him. They had actually had an intelligent conversation with him. It was too surreal for words. And James missed the whole thing, the lazy doofus. If only he could have woken up when Zach wanted him to... As if on cue, James stirred beside his brother and sat up on the sidewalk rubbing his eyes.

"Geez, that light from the television sure was bright… It felt like my eyeballs were melting inside my head."

Blinking a few times to help get some vision back, he looked at his surroundings and noticed Zach sitting next to him.

"Oh, hey, dude. Geez, how long was I out? Were you also knocked unconscious by that death beam of a television? Remind me to ask Chris about it ASAP."

Zach wearily looked up from staring at the sidewalk, but didn't face James.

"Dude, you missed them."

"Huh? Missed who?"

"Billy and Mandy."

"What? I thought we were watching Adventure Time. Did Cartoon Network change their schedule again?"

"No, I mean you _literally_ missed them. They were right here, talking to me."

"…You had a conversation with cartoon characters?"

"Apparently. But lo and behold, they walked off before I could shake you awake. Whatever that light did to you, it sure put you under pretty easily and quickly. I tried everything to wake you up, short of slapping you across the face a few times."

"…That's never stopped you before in the past."

"Well…true, but this time it was because of a more urgent situation, not to see how long I could annoy you and for you to retaliate. And now I'm beginning to think I just made up the whole thing."

James smirked and crossed his legs under him.

"Heh, you probably did it just to create something familiar for your brain to latch onto when we got blinded. We were watching Cartoon Network at the time, so it makes sense you would pick characters from a channel and show you enjoy watching."

"Makes just as much sense as my brain is telling me now."

"Heh, yeah. I mean, it's just ridiculous. Real cartoon characters interacting with people like us? Pfft."

James uncrossed his legs and laughed as he leaned back on his outstretched arms. It was at that moment that Billy came running up to the both of them before grabbing something off the sidewalk, grinning from ear to ear.

"Aha! Here's my stick! I thought I lost you!"

Giggling, he kissed the shaft of wood and stuffed it in his pocket before running back to where he came.

"Coming, Mandy!"

After that moment, James' jaw could not drop to the sidewalk hard enough or fast enough. Zach leapt to his feet in both shock and excitement as his eyes grew wide.

"Did you see that? _Did you just see that_?!"

James was lost for words as he watched Billy scamper off to join Mandy who was currently out of sight. Zach was already chasing after the kid, not wanting him to get too far ahead. Once James realized that his brother had left his side, he snapped out of his stupor and joined the chase.

"Hey, wait for me!"

Billy proved to be faster than Zach initially thought, but finally managed to catch up to him. James pulled up the rear a few seconds later and both teens stood catching their breath as Billy stopped next to Mandy. The blonde was less than pleased at seeing the two of them and let a deep scowl cross her features.

"What in the world are you two doing here?"

Zach had trouble forming words as he panted alongside James.

"We… W-we're not…exactly…s-sure…"

Mandy was quickly losing her patience, but decided to humor the boys.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I…m-mean…we're not sure…what we're doing here with you two. For one thing, you guys aren't even real!"

That last statement caused Mandy to raise an eyebrow at them. They sure were acting strange, not as strange as Billy sometimes acted, but still not exactly normal, or at least what qualified as 'normal' in her life. Both guys had regained their breath by now and were eyeing her for any signs of a reply, with slight hints of apprehension and confusion on their features. She decided to slowly walk towards them, making them take a worried step back.

"You say I'm not real, correct? Well, if I'm not real, then could I do this?"

Without warning, she jumped up and grabbed onto the nearest T-shirt, which happened to belong to James, and pulled him down to her eye level. He uttered a squeak of surprise, but didn't say anything else as his eyes grew wide with fear. Mandy then leaned in close and grinned at him; not a grin that was pleasant, but one that meant she was in complete control of the situation. With a snicker, she let go of the shirt, causing James to stumble back and fall on the ground with a shocked expression on his face.

"Thought so. I'm just as real as that slab of concrete you're currently sitting on, and if you think otherwise, then you're an even bigger moron than I originally thought. C'mon, Billy, we've wasted enough time as it is. Let's just leave the dweebs and meet up with Grim before my patience completely drains."

Billy nodded at her and waved stupidly at the twins.

"Bye you two! It was nice meeting you again!"

Zach quickly helped James to his feet and managed to call out to Mandy before she left.

"Wait! Please!"

Mandy rounded on the spot and shot a death glare at Zach, her eyes burning with anger.

"What is it this time?"

"Let us come with you!"

Mandy softened her gaze a little, but still glared at him with her arms crossed.

"Why should we?"

"Because…! Well, because it would help us try to figure out where we are and how we got here."

"Okay, first of all, you're in Endsville, and second, why do you two need to tag along with us? What's stopping you from figuring this out on your own and away from us, and more importantly, me?"

Zach opened his mouth to reply, but immediately shut it. So they were in Endsville, which is Billy and Mandy's hometown. Which is a real location in their show, but a fictional one from Zach and James' perspective. However, what the twins witnessed with Mandy yanking down James to her eye level, not to mention the conversation they were currently having with her, completely convinced him that the impossible had become reality. They were actively interacting with cartoon characters, and were definitely a long way from home. If only the girls were here to see this. Wait a minute… Zach's eyes widened with realization. The girls! Where were they? He didn't see them after he had woken up with James or during the chase to catch up with Billy and Mandy. Were they wandering around somewhere, maybe with other cartoon characters? Had they been transported to another location from a different show? Zach didn't know for sure, but at least now he and James had a valid reason for tagging along with the kids.

"Well, um, w-we're not all here exactly. We're missing three other members of our group, all of them girls. One is fourteen with medium-length, reddish-yellow hair with light blue bangs, one is thirteen with long silver hair and dark red bangs, and one is twelve with medium-length, brownish-yellow hair with bright yellow bangs. You wouldn't by any chance happen to have seen them, have you?"

Mandy raised an eyebrow at the odd hair color descriptions, but shook her head 'no'.

"Can't say that I have. Although, with those colors, you wouldn't have to look very far. Endsville is full of people with disastrous hair-dyeing attempts."

James had since managed to gain control of his voice again after Mandy had displayed her realness to him and half-glared at her.

"Wait, what? Those colors are not the results of some poor hair-dyeing attempt. Those are their natural hair colors!"

Mandy scoffed and shook her head.

"Yeah right. You expect me to believe that silver, blue, and bright yellow are their natural colors? Are you even sure that your friends are human?"

"They are natural and they are human!" Zach chimed in for his brother, annoyed at Mandy for being hypocritical considering her own bright yellow hair. "But that's not the point. The point is that they're missing and we need to find them. Look, we're sorry for making you late for your meeting, probably with Grim, and we can try to make it up to you, but can you please let us come with you? We might be able to meet someone who can hopefully get us back to where we belong, and along the way, we can look for our friends. So…please?"

Zach finished his plea and looked at Mandy with concern and a sense of urgency in his eyes. He didn't want to sound totally desperate in front of Mandy of all people, but he was at a loss for what to do next and he and James were in need of some serious help. Mandy just kept staring at them and Zach thought that she was going to blow them off again. His thoughts were momentarily realized when she dropped her arms to her sides and turned away from them, but spoke up as she started walking.

"Whatever. At this point, I don't really care. Follow us if you want, but don't talk to me. You two are really getting on my nerves and I'm this close to socking one of you right in the jaw. C'mon, Billy. Let's go."

Billy happily walked beside Mandy and giggled.

"Teehee! Gee, Mandy, exactly how many times have you told me to 'c'mon'? I've counted…um…twenty-seven! Nah! Twenty-six!"

Mandy just kept walking as she gave him a hard slap.

"Can it. I'm worn out and desperately need some alone time. Let's just get this meeting done already."

They were almost out of sight and Zach and James eagerly jogged up to them to match their pace. The twins had big smiles on their faces, thrilled to tag along, but the smiles soon turned to frowns as the realization set in. Walking with cartoon characters was one thing, but there were so many other unanswered questions. How did they get here? Were they somehow trapped in the television? Did the bright light have anything to do with this? Where were the girls? And most importantly, how were they ever going to get back home? The two of them really hoped that someone they would meet could help. Heck, maybe even Grim could help them. He's a supernatural being, right? What, with being Death and all, not to mention being able to open portals with his scythe. If Billy and Mandy could travel to places like Asgard and the Halls of Time, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to have Grim send them back to Okenite City. Hopefully…

* * *

**A.N.** - Our first stop was Endsville, which led to Zach and James tagging along with our kid heroes. =) But where have the girls ended up? You'll find out next chapter. ;) Don't forget to review!


	3. And so, once again, the day is saved

**A.N. -** Hello again! I took a break from this story for a while, but I'm back with another chapter. I have a certain direction I'm trying to move towards with this and I hope that I don't second-guess any of my decisions. This time, it's Cerrlumia and Aurea who come across three familiar faces and start their own journey to rejoin their friends. Enjoy!

* * *

Meanwhile, Aurea and Cerrlumia were waking up from their state of unconsciousness brought on by the bright light and were slowly growing accustomed to their surroundings. They could both feel a hard surface beneath them, much like concrete, and it wasn't much of a stretch for them to assume that they were sitting on a sidewalk. Rubbing their eyes a few times, both girls groaned in pain and tiredness as Cerrlumia spoke up.

"Ugghhh… What the hell was that all about? It felt like my eyeballs were going to burst into flames at any moment. They really should get that television fixed or something. 'Brand new', my ass."

"Hmmm, I don't know," added Aurea. "What happened was very strange, but not at all implausible. Maybe it wasn't the television at all. Maybe Beryl did something with her powers in order to get your and James' attention. Or get you two to shut up. One or the other."

Cerrlumia growled at her and shook her head to try to wake herself up.

"I really don't think that Beryl would employ her blinding technique at such close range. She may be immune to its effects, but even she wouldn't go that far when she could just give one of us a good, hard slap."

"I'm not so sure. I've known her to get pretty angry sometimes. Getting blinded is the least of my worries when she gets pushed too far."

"Heh, yeah. She ranks right up there with Chris's friend, Celeste, in normal temperament and abilities for that matter, but damn, if you make either of them angry, say goodbye to your vision for a while. Speaking of which…"

Cerrlumia rubbed her eyes again and tried to focus on what was in front of her.

"Geez, I can still see spots… As if someone painted on the backs of my eyelids."

Aurea rubbed her own eyes a few more times, but otherwise felt fine.

"Funny… I don't think the light affected me as bad as it did you. Anyway, where exactly are we?"

The young girl slowly climbed to her feet and looked around before helping up Cerrlumia.

"Weird… It looks like we're in the city. How did we get here so fast?"

Looking around, both girls saw that they were surrounded on all sides by tall skyscrapers, so high that they had to crane their necks to see the tops. To their left down a street, they could glimpse the entrance to a park of some kind, while to their right the road continued to stretch with even more tall buildings, but not as tall as the skyscrapers. All around them, people minded their own business as they did whatever they had planned for the day – shopping, working, and the like, while not paying the two of them much attention.

"Yep, this definitely looks like the heart of Okenite," said Aurea. "Did we walk here from Chris's house or something?"

"Her house is so far on the outskirts of the city that it would take us close to a half-hour or longer if we walked. That seems to be a stretch of the imagination, even for us in some kind of trance."

"So, what then? We called a cab and took it to the city?"

Cerrlumia rolled her eyes.

"Well, no. That would be ridiculous." Her eyes suddenly widened in a mix of fear and excitement. "But maybe… Maybe we stole a car and drove it here ourselves! Hotwired it and everything! That would actually be pretty cool if I didn't want to think about facing the wrath of Chris or any of her friends for stealing their car. Oh, boy…"

"Oh, c'mon, they wouldn't be that mad. Impressed, maybe, but not mad."

Cerrlumia gave Aurea a deadpanned expression and looked around grimly.

"You and your optimism. You better hope you're right, for both our sakes. Pfft, 'impressed'… As if they would refer to stealing their car as something like that."

Aurea just shrugged and started to turn back towards the street when something caught her eye. Slowly, she turned her head to look at the building right behind them, blinking in confusion, and when she got a good look at the lettering above the entrance, the rest of her body followed suit. Arching an eyebrow, she silently mouthed the words written in faded gold lettering in all caps.

TOWNSVILLE NATIONAL BANK

"…Huh?"

Aurea blinked again and rubbed her eyes. Were they playing tricks on her? Surely she couldn't have just read what her mind was telling her she saw. But there it was, plain as day. Was she dreaming? Could she be asleep; just imagining all of this, but if she was, then why was Cerrlumia here too? And why did this all seem so real and not a dream? She decided to test something.

"Hey, Cerrlumia, turn around and tell me what you see above the door here."

Cerrlumia complied with her friend's request and did a double take upon reading the words.

"What the hell…? Townsville? From The Powerpuff Girls?"

Aurea nodded and shrugged.

"Maybe somebody did it for a joke or it's some kind of promotional material."

"For what, though? The series officially ended in 2005 and then there was that thirty minute 'The Powerpuff Girls Rule!' special in 2009. Are they reviving the series or something? That would actually be kinda awesome."

"Hmm, that _would_ be awesome. Hey…wanna go check inside? Maybe someone can tell us what's going on."

Cerrlumia nodded and flashed a smile to her friend.

"Perfect idea. Heh, maybe they'll have free lollipops inside. Banks still give those away for free to kids, right?"

"If they don't, then you can always get your candy fix from that song saved on my smartphone."

Cerrlumia rolled her eyes.

"Aqua's catchy pop song does not count. Now, c'mon, let's go inside."

With that, Cerrlumia pulled open the door to the bank with Aurea in tow. As soon as they stepped over the threshold, they were greeted by a burly security guard who seemed very confused by their questions, or at least very ignorant.

"New episodes? What do you mean by 'new episodes'?"

"Exactly what I asked!" snapped Cerrlumia. "What's with the lettering over the door of the bank if you're not promoting new Powerpuff Girls material?"

"Young lady, the lettering over the door is there because this is Townsville National Bank. It's been that way ever since I started working here over thirty years ago and I'm sure it's not going to change anytime soon. If you want to know if there will be any new promotional material concerning The Powerpuff Girls, I suggest you go talk to the Mayor. However, waiting times to get to talk to him are long and tiresome, but hey, if you can stand the wait, then by all means go put in a request."

Cerrlumia facepalmed and scowled at the guard.

"I don't have time for any of that! It would be easier if my friend and I just did a Wikipedia search for The Powerpuff Girls back at our friend's house."

The guard briefly looked confused and scratched his bearded chin.

"Uhhhh, wiki-who?"

Cerrlumia facepalmed again and shook her head.

"Oh, for the love of… Ya know what; forget it. C'mon, Aurea, let's get going. It's obvious that they're just toying with us to keep things secret. Don't want anything to get out to the public until the right time." She addressed the guard again. "Nice to meet you and all that, but we should really get going. The Internet's calling our names."

Cerrlumia and Aurea then made for the door, but it was suddenly kicked open by four masked men with automatic weapons. Two of them had shotguns and the other two had large pistols. A tall, muscular guy with a shotgun stepped forward and shot three rounds into the ceiling, raining down debris on the frightened bank patrons.

"Alright! This is a robbery! Everyone get down on the floor now and don't move!"

He fired off a few more rounds and people immediately flew to the floor, but not before a teller managed to activate a silent alarm. The guard quickly drew out his firearm, but another masked man knocked it out of his grip with lightning quick reflexes and smacked him hard on the head with the butt of his shotgun. The guard fell over groaning and landed at Cerrlumia and Aurea's feet. Aurea's hands flew to her mouth in fear and Cerrlumia took a panicked step backward.

"Oh, man…"

The first muscular guy with the shotgun, obviously the leader, sneered down at the two of them and motioned with his weapon.

"You two kids as well. On the floor. NOW."

Aurea immediately flew to the floor and shakily covered her head with her hands while Cerrlumia got down on the floor as well, albeit a little slower. Ideas were dancing in her head and she was now dead set that this so-called 'robbery' was some kind of promotional stunt. It had to be, right? Unless… This whole thing really _was_ a real robbery and they would be lucky enough to escape with their lives. Cerrlumia gulped at that thought, but then her mind started churning again. If none of this was staged, then she and Aurea could stop it and be hailed as heroes. They could control the elements, right? She could use her Mercury spells to threaten the 'robbers' with the thought of being poisoned and Aurea could use her Gold spells to encase them in the metal as statues until the police got here. It was a perfect plan _and_ it might even get the patrons to reward them with something! It wasn't everyday that she got free stuff when she thought she deserved it. With her ideas set into motion, Cerrlumia then nudged Aurea's shoulder and whispered to her.

"Hey, Aurea. I have an idea and it might just be crazy enough to work. All you have to do is encase those would-be bank robbers in gold while I distract them."

Aurea's eyes widened as her mouth hung open in shock.

"Are you out of your flippin' mind?! Do you have any idea how… Cerrlumia! What are you doing?!"

Cerrlumia had just gotten up from the floor and started walking towards a robber idly standing off to the side keeping his gun trained on some frightened patrons. The leader was too busy with getting the bank manager to open the safe to notice that one of his hostages wasn't following orders. After casting a confident glance at her frightened friend, Cerrlumia poked the robber in the side and looked up at him expectantly.

"Excuse me, um, Mr. Bank Robber or whoever you really are; I couldn't help but notice how you and your friends are attempting to rob this facility and make off with some sweet dough. Any chance I could get in on some trade secrets so I could pull off my own heists someday?"

Aurea didn't know whether to be totally scared for her best friend or just facepalm at the stupidity of that comment. Cerrlumia was taking a huge risk and as terrified as she was, she could not watch her friend get hurt or worse. Outside the building, she could hear sirens as police cars pulled up and doors slammed loudly, signaling that the city's finest were here and ready for action. After briefly looking around to make sure that no robbers were looking her way, Aurea slowly and shakily climbed to her feet and approached Cerrlumia and the man she was talking to.

"Beat it, kid. Go lie down on the floor like a good little girl and wait like everyone else is until we get what we came here for. Once we do that, then we'll be sure to let you all go safe and sound."

His tone was a bit malicious and Cerrlumia didn't take too kindly to the way he was talking to her.

"Hey robber dude, I asked you nicely about something I didn't think you would have a hard time answering. Now I want to know about those trade secrets or do my friend and I have to motivate you a bit?"

Cerrlumia turned to Aurea who was meekly trying not to have any attention called to her, but that failed when the silver-haired girl suddenly pointed at her. By this time, they had drawn the attention of the other two robbers and the room was suddenly filled with loud gasps from the huddled bank patrons as they slowly advanced on them. A few people frantically waved and motioned at the girls to get back on the floor and keep quiet, but Cerrlumia was firm in her stance while Aurea was trying not to faint as she clung to her friend's shoulder for dear life. The robber then leaned in close to Cerrlumia's face and she could smell his sour breath.

"And what, pray tell, are you and your friend going to do to motivate us?"

He sneered at her and Cerrlumia returned the gesture.

"I'm going to poison you and she is going to make statues out of you and your friends."

At that, the three of them burst out laughing. The room was filled with their loud guffaws as the bank patrons feared for the girls' safety. Cerrlumia just smiled at them, confident that they just made the biggest mistakes of their lives. After the men had their merriment, the second-in-command leaned in close to Cerrlumia's face and scoffed at her.

"Let's see you prove it."

Cerrlumia grinned and nudged Aurea in the shoulder, signaling her to ready her powers.

"Alright, you asked for it, tough guy."

She then stood back and twirled her palms in the air in front of her, concentrating on channeling the heavy metal within her body. Aurea hesitated at first, still paralyzed with fear, but eventually performed the same motions as her friend. Cerrlumia expected a stream of liquid mercury to be summoned and swirling in the air in front of her ready to infect the robber, but nothing was appearing. She quickly glanced over at Aurea who looked to be wondering why her gold encasement spells didn't seem to be working either. With a panicked realization, she realized that they looked like idiots standing in the middle of the room waving their hands around in front of bank robbers. Bank robbers holding some very dangerous and very real-looking guns.

"Uh, A-aurea…" she asked in a frightened voice. "My s-spells are not working…"

"M-mine either…" replied her equally terrified friend.

"Are you about done making complete idiots of yourselves, little girls?" asked the second-in-command, sneering at them again. "You two look so pathetic that I don't know whether to pity you two or just laugh at your expense."

He then glanced at his two compatriots before glaring at the girls maliciously.

"How 'bout it, guys? A few more hearty laughs for having these two entertain us while the boss finishes with his business."

They all then threw back their heads and laughed at the girls who clutched each other in fear. It was at that time that the leader re-appeared with a giant sack full of money and other valuables draped over his shoulder while he roughly pushed the bank manager to the floor in front of him.

"After a little persuasion, heheh, I managed to get everything that we came here for. I trust that everything stayed the same as I had left it?"

"Sure thing, boss," spoke up a robber. "Except for these two young ladies who managed to keep us entertained with a little floor show, heheh."

"Did they now?"

The leader walked right up to Cerrlumia and Aurea as both of them shivered in fear and clung to each other tighter. Even up close, he looked even scarier and the shotgun he was carrying over his other shoulder only enhanced his intimidation. He gave a wide grin to both girls before walking past them towards the doors with his crew.

"Thanks for all the money and entertainment, Bank of Townsville, heheh. Well, men, it's time to take our leave."

They hadn't taken more than three steps when a loud, collective cry from somewhere outside caused them to immediately freeze in their tracks.

"NOT SO FAST, EVIL DOERS!"

Before any of the panicked men could draw their weapons and open fire at the voices, a loud _chiu-chiu-chiu_ noise broke the silence and the doors were immediately smashed in. Cerrlumia and Aurea screamed for their lives and dove to the floor as one of the men was sent flying into a wall on the opposite side of the room by a cyan-colored blur. Before another robber could react, he was sent flying into another wall by a light green-colored blur while his partner experienced the same treatment by a pink-colored blur. As the leader was the only man left standing, he refused to be parted with his stolen loot and tried to grab himself a hostage, but immediately cried out in pain as his arm was forcefully wrenched in the wrong direction by the cyan-colored blur from before. He lost his grip on the shotgun and let it drop to the tile floor, where it fired off a round into a potted plant, causing nearby hostages to scream as dirt and vegetation flew everywhere. Nursing his sore arm as best as he could with a bag of money clutched tightly in his other hand, the leader glared angrily at the getaway disruptors hovering in the air in front of him. Aurea was covering her head and whimpering in fear as Cerrlumia took a chance to see who their rescuers were and immediately gasped upon seeing them, nudging Aurea in the shoulder and telling her in a hushed whisper to look as well. Aurea refused to look up until Cerrlumia practically forced her head to move and when she finally caught sight of them, she too let out a gasp.

"We would have been here a lot sooner if a convenience store was not getting robbed at the same time as you guys were robbing the bank," said the one dressed in light green.

"Fortunately, Buttercup here managed to dispatch those guys without too much trouble," replied the one dressed in cyan.

"And it looks like your goons were no match for us either," added the one dressed in pink. "It almost makes me think that you guys set something up with those other guys so that you could distract us and get away with the bigger payoff. And it would have almost worked except for one important detail…"

The three individuals then immediately flew in close to the leader and punched him hard while replying in unison:

"…We're THE POWERPUFF GIRLS! And we always come out on top!"

The leader slammed into a wall where he crumpled in a heap while the Powerpuff Girls signaled to the police outside that all was clear and they could arrest the crooks. Aurea and Cerrlumia just stared dumbfounded at the hovering kindergarteners as they escorted the hostages out the front door and both girls slowly and shakily climbed to their feet. Cerrlumia couldn't believe what she saw before her. The Powerpuff Girls. _The freaking Powerpuff Girls._ This was a dream. It had to be. No way was any of this real. And yet, after what she and Aurea had been through, it was very hard to discredit what they were seeing. Cerrlumia just had to test something. Taking a few steps forward with Aurea right next to her, she approached the girls from behind and reached out to tap Blossom on the shoulder. Aurea was having the same reaction to all of this as Cerrlumia had and waited with baited breath to see what would happen next. Tentatively, Cerrlumia tapped Blossom on her shoulder and immediately drew her hand back when the leader of the Powerpuff Girls turned around to look at her.

"Oh, hello. Are you girls alright? We heard from some of the hostages that you two stood up to the bank robbers. While I have to admit that was very brave of you two, it was also very dangerous. You girls could have been seriously hurt or worse."

Cerrlumia just stood there with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. If this was a dream, then her mind was doing a hell of a job of making everything seem real. Blossom's shoulder felt very life-like and Cerrlumia easily felt the fabric of her dress beneath her fingertips. She cast a sideways glance at Aurea who reached out at Bubbles and poked her in the leg. The action made Bubbles giggle and Aurea immediately pulled her hand back, eyes widening at the realization of the situation. Buttercup just scowled at the two of them and crossed her arms.

"Don't be getting any funny ideas about poking me."

Blossom glared at her sister.

"Now, Buttercup, be nice. They've obviously been through a pretty hectic and possibly traumatizing experience. Don't you think that we should let them cope in any way that they can?"

"Well, yeah, but poking us? We're not toys or dolls or anything."

Bubbles decided to ignore her sisters and eagerly addressed the two girls, ever ready to make new friends.

"Hi, my name is Bubbles! What are your names?"

Cerrlumia continue to stare at the Puff in front of her and had trouble finding her voice until she unsteadily cleared her throat.

"Uh, m-my name is Cerrlumia and this is my f-friend, Aurea…"

Bubbles smiled happily and immediately hugged each girl in turn.

"Pleased to meet you two!"

As soon as the blonde-haired Puff let go of the two girls, they immediately crumpled to the floor, having fainted dead away. Bubbles' hands immediately flew to her mouth in shock as Buttercup glared at her.

"Nice going, Bubbles. You just caused our two most reliable witnesses to drop to the floor unconscious."

"…B-but I didn't mean to…" replied Bubbles, almost on the verge of tears.

"They'll be fine, Bubbles," assured Blossom. "I'm sure they just got a little too shocked and excited. Now, help me carry them outside. There's an ambulance out there. We can let them rest while the paramedics check them over for any medical issues just in case."

Bubbles and Buttercup nodded and gently picked up Aurea while Blossom did the same with Cerrlumia before the three Puffs took them outside to the waiting ambulance. The vehicle had been dispatched to the bank in case of any medical trauma received by the hostages.

"Oh, hello girls," replied the main paramedic on duty as the Puffs gently set down Aurea and Cerrlumia on the bumper of the ambulance. "Are these two alright? What happened?"

"Oh, they just fainted," explained Blossom. "They're key witnesses in the attempted bank robbery here. Stood up to the robbers and kept them distracted until we got here."

The paramedic raised his eyebrows and blinked.

"Really, now? Wow, that must have taken a lot of courage."

"More like outright foolishness…" mumbled Buttercup.

"Buttercup… Anyway, could you please check them over for any medical issues? We want to make sure they're okay."

"Of course. It would be no problem," replied the man.

A few minutes later, after all was said and done, Cerrlumia and Aurea slowly awoke and glanced at their surroundings.

"Man, my head is killing me…" mumbled Cerrlumia as she rubbed her forehead. "That dream sure was a strange one. Waking up in Townsville, witnessing a bank robbery, meeting The Powerpuff Girls…"

Aurea blinked her eyes a few times and then suddenly widened them with a gasp. She frantically tugged at Cerrlumia's shirt to get her attention.

"What? What is it?"

"…I don't think that was a dream."

Cerrlumia followed her friend's gaze and gasped as well. Hovering in front of them were The Powerpuff Girls with the paramedic off to the side. Blossom had a look of concern on her face while Bubbles just looked curious. Buttercup had her arms crossed and frowned at them.

"Great. They still sound like a bunch of loonies…"

Cerrlumia just stared at the green Puff until she forced herself to speak.

"Y-you… You're real! We didn't imagine any of this!"

"No duh. Of course we're real."

"B-but how?! You're cartoon characters!"

"We're just as real as anything else around here, including your friend. It's not that hard to believe. By the way, didn't your mom tell you it's rude to stare with your mouth open?"

Aurea let out a small squeak and immediately closed her mouth. Blossom just shook her head at Buttercup and flew a little closer to the girls.

"How do you two feel? We had the paramedics check you over for any medical issues since you fainted and he claimed he couldn't find anything out of the ordinary."

"Oh, we feel fine, B-blossom…" spoke up Aurea with uncertainty. "Just very surprised at the revelation that we're talking to cartoon characters. Not to mention curious as to how we got here, in Townsville, of all places…"

"What do you mean?" asked Bubbles. "Aren't you two from Townsville?"

"Well, no," replied Cerrlumia. "We're from a place called Okenite City and we're pretty sure Townsville is a long way from there. We were all sitting in our friend's family room watching television and there was this weird bright light and we all passed out. Next thing we know, we're waking up in front of the bank and then we got wrapped up in the robbery mess."

"What do you mean 'we'? asked Blossom. "Are you saying there were others with you?"

"Well, yeah, there was Zach, James, and Beryl…"

Cerrlumia stopped in mid-sentence as her eyes widened. She heard Aurea gasp beside her and both girls turned to each other in shock.

"OH, MY GAWD!"

"These two just keep getting weirder and weirder…" mumbled Buttercup.

Cerrlumia ignored her as she grabbed her friend by the shoulders.

"Where are the guys?! And Beryl! Did you see any of them after we woke up?!"

"No! I didn't see them at all!" replied Aurea with wide eyes. "Where could they be?! Are they here in Townsville or did they get sent somewhere else?"

"I don't know! I don't know! Okay, deep breath, deep breath… The key is not to panic."

Both girls forced themselves to calm down and turned towards the PPG.

"There were five of us from the start," explained Cerrlumia. "As I said earlier, we were all in the same room together when the television started acting weird. Then we got separated somehow. Aurea and I ended up here and the others are…or might be…someplace else. We have to find them and get back home."

Aurea eagerly nodded beside her and Blossom smiled at the two of them.

"Don't worry. We'll help you look for your friends. While you two were still unconscious, the Mayor contacted us and wants to see us as soon as possible. We agreed to his request, but wanted to make sure you girls were okay first. Now that you're awake, we can go see him together. I have a feeling that he might be able to provide some help, along with Miss Bellum. A visit to the Professor should be after that. He'll be the one to figure out a way to send you and your friends back home."

Aurea beamed at Blossom while Cerrlumia gave a grateful and affirmative nod.

"Thanks, girls. This means a lot to us until we can get our bearings. It's not every day we get to hang out with some of our favorite cartoons."

"Don't mention it!" replied Bubbles with a big smile. "We're happy to help! Now, if only we can get Buttercup to be in a better mood…"

She cast a smirk at the green Puff who frowned back at her.

"Yeah, whatever… I still say they're a bunch of loonies. The sooner you can find your friends, the sooner you can leave."

Blossom facepalmed and was about to apologize again for Buttercup's rudeness, but was stopped by Cerrlumia holding her hand up.

"Don't worry; it doesn't bother us as much as you might think. We're used to her attitude and personality. In fact, we know someone back home who isn't that much different."

She smiled thinking of Chris's other friend, Aerin, and Blossom just shrugged.

"Well, alright then. I still think Buttercup should tone it down a bit though."

She glared at her sister and Buttercup just scoffed back at her.

"Oh, quit giving me that look. She said she was fine with it."

She then turned her back and floated down the sidewalk in the direction of Townsville Hall. Blossom rolled her eyes before thanking the paramedics for their services and following her sister.

"It was no trouble, Blossom," replied the head paramedic. "And take care, you two. Getting mixed up in robberies is not something anyone should be burdened with."

Cerrlumia and Aurea nodded and thanked him for everything.

"Well, uh, I guess we should catch up with my sisters before they get too far ahead," said Bubbles. "Whenever they have these little disagreements, I've learned that it's best to let them work it out, no matter how much I want to intervene. If things do get too out of hand, I have my own ways of getting them to behave."

She giggled and Cerrlumia and Aurea smirked at each other.

"Oh, I was also thinking about the details of how you two ended up in Townsville. You two wouldn't mind explaining anything to me, would you?"

"Of course not," replied Cerrlumia. "Talking would actually help us better understand the details anyway."

Aurea happily nodded and soon the three of them were heading towards Townsville Hall, not too far behind the other Puffs.

* * *

**A.N. - **I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, but I'm currently working on other projects so there might be a delay. Beryl is the last person to meet one or more of CN's cartoons, so have fun guessing who they might be. =) Until next time, review!


End file.
